Isaiah 49

¹ Hearken, you coastlanders, to me! And attend, you folkstems, from afar! Yahweh, from the belly, called me; from the bowels of my mother He mentioned my name. ² And He is constituting my mouth as a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand He hides me. And He is constituting me a choice arrow. In His quiver He conceals me. ³ And He is saying to me, "My servant are you, Israel, in whom I am beautifying Myself." ⁴ And I, I say, "For naught do I labor; for chaos and for vanity I exhaust my vigor. Surely, my judgment is with Yahweh. And my wage is with my Elohim." ⁵ And now, thus says Yahweh, Who formed me from the belly, for His servant, to restore Jacob to Him, when Israel is being gathered to Him. Yet I shall be glorified in the eyes of Yahweh, and my Elohim becomes my help. ⁶ And he is saying to me, "A slight thing is it for you to become My servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and the dispersed of Israel to restore. Behold! I give you also for a light of the nations, to become My salvation unto the ends of the earth." ⁷ Thus says my Lord Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Elohim of Israel, his Holy One, to the despised of His soul, to the abhorred of the nation, to the servant of rulers, "Kings shall see him, and they rise, and chiefs shall also worship him, on account of Yahweh, Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose you." ⁸ Thus says Yahweh, "In a season acceptable I answer you. And in a day of salvation I help you. And I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to set up the land, to allot the desolated allotments, ⁹ to say to those bound, 'Fare forth', and to those in darkness, 'Be revealed!' And on all their mountains shall they graze. And all ridges shall be their pasture. ¹⁰ They shall not hunger nor thirst, nor will the searing wind and the sun smite them. For the One showing them compassion will lead them, and to fonts of water will He conduct them. ¹¹ And I make on all My mountains, and My highways are high." ¹² Behold! These from afar are coming, and, behold! These from the north and these from the sea, and these from the land of Sinim. ¹³ Jubilate, O heavens! And exult, O earth! Crash, O mountains, into jubilation! And the hills into righteousness! For Yahweh is comforting His people, and on His humble is He having compassion. ¹⁴ Yet saying is Zion, "I am forsaken by Yahweh, and my Lord has forgotten me." ¹⁵ Will a woman forget her child, not to have compassion on the son of her belly? Even if these a woman will forget, yet I will not forget you,says Yahweh." ¹⁶ Behold! On My palms I tattoo you, and your walls are in front of Me continually." ¹⁷ Your sons hasten more than your demolishers, and those who made you a desert, are faring forth from you. ¹⁸ Lift your eyes around and see them all. They are convened and come to you. "Living am I", averring is Yahweh, "For with them all, as an ornament, shall you be clothed, and you shall tie them on as a bride her wreath. ¹⁹ For they are your deserts and your desolations, and the land of your demolitions, for now are you constricted because of the dweller, yet far away are they who swallowed you up. ²⁰ Further, the sons of your bereavements shall say in your ears, 'Constricted for me is the place. Come close to me and I will dwell.' ²¹ And you say in your heart, 'Who generated these for me, while I was bereaved and a widow, and deported and withdrawn? And these - who brought them up for me? Behold! I remained alone. Yet these - whereat were they?'" ²² For thus says my Lord Yahweh, "Behold! I will lift My hand to the nations, and to the peoples will I raise My banner high. And they bring your sons in a bosom pouch, and your daughters on the shoulders shall be borne, ²³ and kings become your foster fathers, and their chiefesses your wet nurses. Nostrils to the earth, shall they prostrate to you, and the soil at your feet shall they lick up. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh, and those expecting Me shall not be ashamed." ²⁴ Taken from a master is the booty? And would the captive of a terrifier escape? ²⁵ For thus says Yahweh, "Even the captive of a master will be taken, and the booty of the terrifier will escape. Yet with your contender I will contend, and your sons I will save. ²⁶ And I feed those tyrannizing over you with their own flesh, and as with juice, with their own blood shall they be drunk. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour, and your Redeemer is the Sturdy One of Jacob."